The present invention relates to a sub-caliber, spin stabilized multi-purpose FAPDS (frangible armor piercing discarding sabot) projectile wherein the projectile, due to its material structure, completely disintegrates into fragments when it impacts on a target and encounters even the slightest resistance in the target such as, for example, from thin-walled aluminum plates, and with the projectile including a projectile body composed of a liquid phase sintered heavy metal sintered material composed essentially of metallic tungsten powder with additives.
In order to produce the highest possible kinetic energy with a correspondingly high fragmentation effect in the target, such multi-purpose projectiles (FAPDS projectiles) in a caliber range from about 20 to 50 mm should have a high material density and are intended to be used in individual rounds and preferably in continuous fire against air targets (e.g. fast flying aircraft, armored combat helicopters) as well as against fast moving ground targets (e.g. armored personnel carriers). Depending on the caliber, the energy of the projectile is sufficient to penetrate even armor plates up to a thickness of about 60 mm. The projectile is composed of a brittle heavy metal free of explosives and is to have a lateral effect similar to an explosive projectile in that the projectile body, upon impact, for example, on the first target plate of a multi-plate target, disintegrates into fragments and, due to its high kinetic energy, not only produces a good lateral effect but also a distinct depth effect.
Such a type of FAPDS multi-purpose projectile is disclosed, for example, in European Patent Application No. 0,073,385, published Mar. 3rd, 1983. The projectile body of this prior art multi-purpose projectile is constructed of several parts and is composed of various tungsten materials. A conical front section, may have the same composition as a center rump section or may be composed, at least in part, of another material having a lower density such as, for example, aluminum or ceramic. The rear tail section should be easily workable by machine and is therefore composed of a tungsten heavy metal alloy having a density of at least 16.7 g/cm.sup.3. The individual components of the projectile are reported to be soldered or welded together. Therefore, the manufacture of the individual projectile components of various tungsten materials is very expensive and requires additional process steps to connect the individual parts together in a manner that withstands firing. This type of projectile having a relatively low material density does not exhibit the best fragmentation behavior, and it no longer meets the very stringent requirements of today. In this prior art multi-part projectile body configuration, the rear tail section does not already disintegrate when it hits the first, thin metal target sheets such as, for example, the outer walls of an aircraft. Thus the best possible laterally effective fragmentation mass is not realized.